Meaning

(typography) The descriptive heading or title, of a document or part thereof..

Definitions by Sense

1. (typography) The descriptive heading or title, of a document or part thereof.
2. A title or brief explanation attached to an illustration, cartoon, user interface element, etc.
3. (cinematography, television) A piece of text appearing on screen as a subtitle or other part of a film or broadcast, describing dialogue (and sometimes other sound) for viewers who cannot hear.
4. (law) The section on an official paper (for example, as part of a seizure or capture) that describes when, where, and what was taken, found or executed, and who authorized the act.
5. (obsolete, law) A seizure or capture, especially of tangible property (chattel).
6. (Internet) A story that is embedded in a pre-existing image (sometimes with image manipulation)
7. To add captions to a text or illustration.
8. To add captions to a film or broadcast.

Example Sentences

Some of the photographs are new and interesting, but many captions are amateurish, uninformative or simply careless.

(theater, performance production) By analogy, text in a similar system used in a performance venue for transcription of a live event.

1919 Thomas Welburn Hughes. A treatise on criminal law and procedure. The Bobbs-Merril Co., Indianapolis, IN, USA. Sec. 557 (p. 378). The caption and asportation must be felonious.

Only once the drawing is done will the letterer caption it.

Word Forms

• captions
• captioning
• captioned

Synonyms for caption

Related Words

When Should You Use Caption?

Use caption when its meaning, tone and grammar fit the full sentence. A synonym is not always a direct replacement.

Practice This Word

Frequently Asked Questions